Author Archives: Mobile Mike
Foxconn: Not Apple’s Problem
The last few days the internet has been ablaze with talk of Apple, China and Foxconn. For those of you who don’t know, let me bring you up to speed quickly. Foxconn is the place where Apple and many other electronics companies have their products built and assembled. It’s a place where factory workers have threatened mass suicides, a place where suicide happens frequently and where fair treatment and labor are always an issue. It’s nothing new, especially in China, but it’s being brought to light because of the immense success of Apple and an article by the New York Times.
Apple’s latest quarterly results were astounding! It was the best quarter for any technology company in history. Apple’s profits are doing nothing but rising and they have amassed a huge surplus of cash. So naturally, when you are on top, you become a target. This latest assault places partial blame on Apple for the poor working conditions and poor treatment of the people working in China building their products. However, Apple isn’t the only company using Foxconn and the technology industry is by far not the worst when it comes to worker treatment.
The NYT didn’t take aim at Microsoft, who has the Xbox built at Foxconn, when 300 workers threatened suicide over pay. They failed to point out that Sony has the Playstation built there, that HTC and Motorola both use Foxconn to make their smartphones, and Amazon’s Kindles are all built there as well. Do all of these companies get a pass because they aren’t recording record breaking profits? Why weren’t they targeted?
The Gadget Gurus Podcast Ep 147 – Catching Bodies
This week it’s just the dynamic duo, Mike and Nic. The Gurus talk about Google’s new privacy policy, Apple’s crazy profits with regards to Chinese labor, and Twitter censoring content based country (BOOOOO). Also don’t forget Guru Gotta Have/Trash It, where the Gurus give you their opinion tech they are using!
Special Guru Shout out to Jamal “The Jazz Guru” for his THIRD Guru donation!! Big thanks to you sir!
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The Gadget Gurus Podcast Ep 146 – Monocles
It’s once again time for The Gadget Gurus Podcast and this we are talking about government take downs, SOPA, Megaupload, and Apple making the changes to good’ol fashion book learnin! Enjoy the show!
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RIM co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis to Step Down
When we think about pulling RIM out of the hole they have dug themselves, one of the first thoughts is to start at the top. RIM’s co-CEO strategy has been questioned very heavily lately and it looks like those questions have been answered. Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis will finally step down and current COO Thorsten Heins will take over as CEO.
RIM has stated that thier current stratgy to move forward with a new OS will remain as planned, but Heins makes sure to point out “It’s going to be continuity, but it’s not going to be a standstill.”
via [The Verge]
SOPA Bill Killed! Chalk One Up for the Good Guys
Earlier today Representative Eric Cantor(R-VA) announced that he will kill the Stop Online Piracy Act going forward. With pressure coming from users, Reddit, and many other anti SOPA businesses, it looks like they are calling it quits. With Godaddy losing over 100,000 domains in the span of just over a week for supporting the bill, users spoke with their dollar. When a company starts losing money, people tend to pay attention. Reddit along with many other internet companies and communities had a planned blackout on the 18th where they would shutdown their sites and internet usage in order to “speak” out against SOPA. Even President Obama’s camp had negative feelings toward SOPA. Glad to finally see moves in the right direction, but this isn’t nearly over yet. There are other bills similar to SOPA out there like PIPA, and the media industry will always throw their weight around under the guise of piracy prevention.
via [Examiner]
